Cry Over Me
by theonefromthewindow
Summary: Tails has developed feelings for someone very close to him, But his fear of rejection is keeping him quiet. Will memories from his past help him to confess his love? SonicxTails, Please R&R.
1. Prologue

**Cry Over Me**

**By theoneinthewindow**

_**Hey, I've finally started work on my second fic. Now a lot of people might not like the couple in this story, If you dont like it then dont read it. Please do not review this by telling me about your dislike for this couple, as your onyl making a fool of yourself. if on the other hand you do read the story then please leave a review nad tell me what you thought about it. As with all my fics, This WILL be completed.**_

**Chapter 1 : Prologue**

A young fox was standing at his window, Silently observing the fallen leaves being blown around by the autumn breeze. Tails wasn't very fond of this time of year, He found it a bit depressing to know that the warm months of summer had ended and winter was on its way. He looked out across the mystic ruins, Knowing that in a few months time it would be covered by a thick blanket of snow. He had been standing there for a while, watching the sky darken as the sun slowly descended. It wasn't often that Tails found himself with nothing to do, He could always find lots to do with his spare time. But for a few weeks now the days just seemed to get longer and longer for him, Now activities that he used to love doing would no longer keep him occupied for long. He was bored with the same routine every day, He would still meet up with his friends now and then but it had been a little while now since that had happened. It didn't bother him too much to be away from his friends, He only really missed one of them. Tails would always be happier when he was around Sonic, Although being near him lately had been making the fox feel a little guilty.

_'All these years, And he still doesn't know how I really feel about him.'_

Tails couldn't even remember how long he had felt this way about the blue hedgehog, All he knew was that Sonic meant everything to him. He had tried to tell himself it was wrong to feel that way about his best friend, But he just couldn't help it. He had never told anyone about his feelings, He was too afraid of what the reaction would be. Now the only time he was spending with Sonic was when they met up with their other friends, It was starting to get him a little upset. He stepped away from the window and laid himself down on the sofa, He held back the tears as he thought about old times that he was sad to know were long gone.

_**--Flashback Begins--**_

On a hilltop outside of Westside island's largest city, The darkness was only disturbed by the gentle flicker of a campfire. Tails stared into the night as he thought about the coming day, He knew that one way or another it would all be over tomorrow. They would either stop Eggman, Or he would arrive aboard the death egg and have the entire world on its knees. The little fox tossed some more wood onto the fire and sighed, He thought about his role in the upcoming battle. He knew he couldn't afford to mess it up, One mistake on his part and it could all be over very quickly.

_'When his wing fortress passes by here tomorrow we're only gonna get one chance to board it, We have to stop him now. But that thing is heavily armed, How am I gonna manage this? What if I can't do it...'_

Sonic yawned as he looked over at Tails.

"You really should get some sleep buddy."

"I know, But I can't stop thinking about tomorrow."

Sonic got up from the grass and sat back down next to Tails.

"Hey, Don't worry about a thing, We'll stop him."

Tails looked at Sonic and shook his head.

"What if we don't? Sonic if he gets back on board the death egg then we won't have a chance, He could-"

"Tails! We're gonna stop him, Trust me."

Tails smiled and nodded, Sonic smiled back before patting him on the shoulder. A sharp pain caused the fox to yelp a little, Sonic immediately noticed it as a reaction to what he had just done.

"Are you okay Tails?"

Tails nodded his head quickly before covering his shoulder with his hand.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine, Its nothing."

Sonic pulled Tails' hand away before gently running his fingers through the orange fur, He could see some pretty bad bruising.

"That looks pretty bad, When did that happen?"

Tails hesitated for a few moments before he answered.

"Earlier Today... I'm okay, Really."

Sonic sighed as he shook his head.

"Why didn't you tell me if you were hurt?"

The little kit paused for another few moments before answering.

"I was worried you might want to leave me behind again..."

Sonic laughed a little, Receiving an upset look from Tails.

"Leave you behind? Heck, You're the only one I know who can keep up with me. Anyway, I had only known you for a few days last time. We've been chasing Eggman across this island for weeks now, And tomorrow I need your help more then ever."

This was something Tails was glad to hear, He wanted to help Sonic rather than slow him down. He smiled as he let the blue hedgehog continue.

"Listen Tails, I'd never leave you behind. Now try and get some sleep, We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Okay Sonic... Thanks."

Sonic gave his friend a grin before laying back down in the grass.

"Don't mention it buddy."

_**--Flashback Ends--**_

Tails could remember it all as if it were yesterday, He wondered if it was the same for Sonic. The fox was startled when his phone started to ring, He quickly leaned over and lifted the receiver.

"Hello?"

"_Hiya Tails!_"

"Oh... Hi Amy."

"_Listen, Are you doing anything __tomorrow?_"

"Not really, Why?"

"_Well I was gonna cook lunch for Sonic __tomorrow, But he refused to come unless I invited some other people_."

Tails replied in a voice loaded with sarcasm.

"Did he really?"

Amy didn't even notice.

"_Yeah... He's just playing hard to get. Anyway knuckles and shadow are gonna be there too, So are you coming?_"

"Alright then, What time should I be there at?"

"_About twelve should be fine._"

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"_Righto, Bye._"

There was a click on the other end of the line, Tails threw the cordless phone down on the floor and imitated Amy's voice.

"He's just playing hard to get."

For most of the time that Tails had known Amy, they had been good friends. But recently Tails had started to get more and more irritated with her, He hated the way she would constantly hound Sonic. As his best friend Tails could always see how annoyed it made him, He always wondered why Sonic never told her to stop it.

_'Why can't she just leave him alone? Why can't she see that he isn't interested? Well, I can put up with it if it means I get to spend some time with Sonic tomorrow.'_

Tails laid back down and closed his eyes, He wondered where all the time had gone to. He wanted everything back the way it was, He wanted it to be just him and Sonic again. Tails did his best to stop himself from crying, That was the last thing he wanted to do.

_'I'm not gonna cry, Not ever again. It won't make me feel any better, There's no point. Sonic wouldn't cry, He never lets anything get him down.'_

Tails remained on the sofa for a while longer. Eventually the young fox sat up and made his way into his bedroom, He had decided since there wasn't much else to do he might as well have an early night. As he walked over to his bedroom window, He had a perfect view of the sunset. He watched for a little while as the sky turned orange and the bright ball of fire slowly moved down under the horizon, Afterwards he pulled the curtains closed and climbed into his bed. For the past few weeks the young fox had been finding it harder to fall asleep, sometimes he would lay awake in bed through an entire night. As he closed his eyes, Tails hoped that looking forward to tomorrow would help him drift off to sleep.

_**A Few Miles Away...**_

The street lights in the city started to turn on one by one as Sonic raced down the streets, He had been out running for a few hours and was now headed home. The front door of his apartment building was lit only by a nearby lamppost and the headlights of the occasional passing car, Sonic slowed down as he made his way into the multi story building and up several flights of stairs. He stopped in front of the door to his apartment and slid his key into the lock, Sonic closed the door behind him as he walked into the dark hallway. He flicked on a nearby light switch before pulling his sneakers off, Afterwards he simply underwent his usual routine of laying on the sofa watching television. He stayed there for several hours, Sonic hated being bored but he always found it really easy to pass the time. He would enjoy going out for a long run or spending time with his friends, but even something simple like watching television was enough to keep him entertained. He picked up the remote and started flicking through the channels again.

_'Maybe I'll just go to bed, I am a little tired. I wonder what Amy gonna make for lunch tomorrow, I hope its not that orange stuff with the funny name again. Well at least I convinced her to invite some of our friends, I haven't heard from Knuckles lately and I haven't even spoken to Tails this week.'_

As Sonic thought about his best friend he glanced over at the phone.

_'Maybe I should give him a call, But it is pretty late now. Yeah, He's probably asleep.'_

Sonic let out a long yawn and realised that sleeping was something he should be doing right now, He got up form the sofa and turned the television off before heading to bed.


	2. Over The Edge

**Chapter 2 : Over The Edge**

Tails slowly awoke from a deep slumber, he was glad to have finally gotten some sleep. He hopped out of bed and stepped up to his window, he pulled the curtains open and sighed. The sun could barely be seen through the thick layer of black clouds, Tails really hoped the weather would improve soon. The young fox glanced over at his clock just before leaving the room.

_'Eleven? Wow, I must have been really tired.'_

Tails suddenly remembered he was to be at Amy's house at Twelve, He knew he would have to hurry if he was going to get there on time. He made his way into his bathroom and quickly got washed, Afterwards he wasted no time pulling his sneakers on and darting out the front door. On the way to the station Tails couldn't help thinking about what today would bring, He knew he would enjoy spending some more time with his friends. He knew he would enjoy spending some more time with Sonic. He arrived at the station and sat down on a nearby bench as he waited impatiently for the train.

_**At Amy's Apartment...**_

Sonic knocked on Amy's door and waited, She opened the door and immediately pulled Sonic into a tight hug. He pulled himself free and walked into the apartment with her.

"Hello would have done."

Amy just laughed.

"Yeah right, Like you would be happy if I only said hello."

Sonic nodded straight away.

"Yes, I would."

Amy completely ignored Sonic's last comment, they entered the main room of her apartment and Sonic could see two familiar people seated at the dining table. Amy headed back to the kitchen to continue cooking, Sonic took a seat at the table with the others.

"Hey Knuckles, Shadow, What's up guys?"

"Hey Sonic."

Knuckles looked pretty bored, Shadow glanced up from the newspaper he was reading just long enough to say a single word to Sonic.

"Hey..."

Amy came back into the room from the kitchen, She looked up at the clock before turning to the others.

"Why isn't Tails here yet? The foods almost ready."

Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"I haven't seen him since we all met up last week, Try and call him."

Amy nodded before walking over to the sitting area and picking up the telephone. Sonic was a little confused, It wasn't like Tails to be late for anything. Knuckles tapped Sonic on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey Sonic, Can you smell that? She might have actually have made something edible this time."

Sonic nodded in approval, Whatever Amy had made certainly smelled good. The pink hedgehog came back over to the dining area and shook her head.

"There was no answer at his house."

Knuckles gave Amy a clueless look.

"Well I guess he ain't coming."

Sonic shook his head.

"No, That's not like Tails, If he decided not to come then he would have told us."

Amy walked back into the kitchen and returned a few moments later.

"Well the foods ready now, We can't wait any longer."

Amy had barely finished her sentence when there was a knock at the door, She went out into the hallway and opened the front door.

"Hey, Sorry I'm so late, The train was delayed."

Amy walked back into the apartment with Tails following her.

"You're just in time, I'm just putting the food out now."

Tails was greeted as he sat down at the table. Knuckles said hi, Shadow just glanced up from the paper and nodded at him, Sonic gave him his usual grin. Amy made her way into the kitchen and started to bring the food out, She sat herself down directly beside Sonic as they all started to eat. Knuckles was surprised at how well prepared the food was, he just had to compliment Amy. The others nodded in approval as he spoke.

"Hey, this is pretty good."

"Well, could I do any less for my darling Sonic?"

Tails was looking over at Sonic who closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, He obviously wasn't impressed by Amy's choice of words. Everyone continued eating in silence before Tails decided to speak up.

"So, What's everyone getting up to this week?"

Shadow just shook his head a little, Knuckles gave him a full answer.

"Nothing really, Just sitting guarding the emerald as I usually do."

Tails turned to Sonic and Amy, Sonic looked as if he was about to say something but he was cut off when Amy started speaking.

"I'm not doing anything this week, But I've got a feeling that Sonic might invite me out tomorrow night."

Sonic rolled his eyes upwards as Amy finished speaking, Tails decided it would probably be best to change the subject again.

"So uh... Pretty cold day today isn't it?"

Knuckles nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, It looks like it might r-"

Knuckles was interrupted when Sonic started laughing, Everyone looked over at him to see what was so funny.

"Heh, I'm sorry. Its just, We haven't seen each other in a week. And now that we've all met up again, We end up talking about the weather? I mean, Don't we have anything interesting to say to each other?"

Amy immediately jumped in.

"Well, I've got something interesting I could tell you Sonic. But I'd better wait until we're alone."

The silence continued for another little while as everyone finished their food, Tails had given up on starting a conversation.

_'Amy is really starting to annoy me, I can't talk about anything without her mentioning Sonic. Why the heck does he put up with it? He clearly isn't happy about it, so why doesn't he tell her to stop?'_

Everyone had finished their food now, Amy got up and collected the plates. As the pink hedgehog carried the dishes into the kitchen, Sonic leaned over the table a little, Getting Tails' attention.

"Now that we don't have anyone to interrupt us, How have you been Tails?"

Tails drank some more water from the glass in his hand before answering Sonic.

"Okay I guess, But I've been a little bored lately. There's just nothing to do when I'm on my own, Don't you ever get fed up of doing the same thing everyday?"

Sonic was about to answer but was again interrupted by Amy who had just walked back in from the kitchen.

"Of course he doesn't get bored, He can always call me if he's feeling lonely."

Tails was started to get angry now. He hadn't seen Sonic in a week, And now that he met up with him again he can't even talk to him without Amy sticking her nose in.

"Don't you have dishes to wash?"

"Nah, I can leave them until you guys are gone, Anyway what are we gonna do tomorrow Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head as he answered.

"I'm a little busy tomorrow Amy."

Tails was really annoyed now, He drank the rest of the water from the glass and did his best to calm down. She continued with her requests, Completely ignoring Sonic's refusal. Tails couldn't listen to it any more, He had to say something.

"Amy he said no, If you actually listened to him you would have heard that."

She just laughed a little as she answered Tails.

"Yeah but he's just teasing me, He loves me too much to refuse to go out with me."

Amy turned her attention back to Sonic before continuing.

"That's right Sonic, Isn't it?"

Tails had heard enough, He slammed the glass down on the table shattering it beneath his hand. This got the attention of everyone in the room.

"Damn It, HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU! When the heck are you gonna realise that!?"

The fox quickly got up from his seat and left the room, Everyone was still shocked by what had just happened. A few moments of silence went past before Sonic got up and headed out the apartment as well. Both Shadow and Knuckles turned their attention to Amy, She remained silent a moment longer before speaking up.

"I think I'll go wash the dishes now."

_**Outside the apartment building...**_

Tails was sitting on the stone steps outside of the apartment building, He was trying to make up his mind between going back up to Amy's apartment and apologising, Or just going to the station and getting the train home. Tails heard someone else exit the building, He turned to face him as he sat down beside him.

"Sonic, I'm sorry. I just lost my temper, I didn't mean to-"

"Hey, You don't have to be sorry, I should have done that years ago."

"Yeah, But still...I haven't spoken to you for a while Sonic, And today I kept trying to talk to you and Amy kept interrupting. It just got me really mad."

Tails looked down at the ground, Sonic placed his hand on the fox's shoulder before speaking again.

"I told you, Its okay. We can talk now, Can't we? So how have you been?"

"Okay, I just get a little lonely sometimes. When are we gonna do something together again?"

"Well we all met up today didn't we?"

Tails shook his head as he looked back up at Sonic.

"No, I meant just me and you. We used to hang out together all the time, we were always together. I miss that..."

Tails' words had got Sonic feeling a little guilty, he wanted to make it up to him.

"I'm sorry Tails, I know what you mean. Listen, I promise that we'll start spending more time together, Okay?"

Tails was smiling now, He nodded as Sonic continued.

"In fact, I'll come over and stay at your house tomorrow night. we can play some video games or watch a movie or something, Whatever you want."

Tails was happy now, He had something to look forward to.

"Thanks Sonic, I feel a lot better now."

Just as he finished speaking, Tails felt a sharp pain in his hand. As he looked at it, both he and Sonic noticed as small patch of the fur had turned red with blood.

"I wish I had remembered my gloves today, I left them at home."

"Come on, You'd better get that cleaned up."

Tails nodded as he followed Sonic back into the apartment.

_**Okay, Thanks for reading this far, The next update should be up in about a week. See you then.**_


	3. It's Not So Bad

_**Okay, Long time since i've updated this, i don't really have an excuse, I've just been lazy. But i've started again now and i should be posting weekly updates from now, Enjoy. (and please review, I was shocked to see the amount of hits this story has had compared to the amount of reviews. what, do people not like it to be known that they are a sontails fan? ah whatever, im sure no one actually reads the personal rants i like to make at the start of every chapter now and then.)**_

**Chapter 3 : It's Not So Bad**

Tails slipped his key into the lock and gave it a twist, he pulled the door closed behind him and flicked on a nearby light switch. After crouching down at the bottom of the hallway to remove his sneakers he walked into his living room and threw himself down on the sofa. He was thinking about the days events and couldn't help wondering if it had been for the best. He had apologised to Amy and she accepted, but Tails still felt a little unwelcome for the rest of the time he spent there. At least he had gotten to speak to Sonic, even if it was only for a little while. Tails closed his eyes and smiled, he knew that by this time tomorrow he would have Sonic here with him.

_'Sonic said he would be over in the evening, I should get up early tomorrow and tidy the place up. Maybe I'd better get some food in from the store as well, there's not much left in the fridge. Well the sooner I this day over with, the sooner tomorrow will come.'_

Tails stepped up off the sofa and strolled into his bedroom, turning off the lightswitchs behind him. He walked over to his window and pulled the curtains shut before laying down on his bed, The fox let out a yawn as he slipped his socks off and pulled the quilt over himself. He lay awake for a little while in bed and thought about how much better things could get for him. Knowing that Sonic had promised they would spend more time together had really lifted Tails spirits, maybe the great times they spent together were was not as long gone as the fox had initially thought. He again started to think of what it would be like to be in an even deeper relationship with Sonic, but quickly scolded himself and tried to think about something else. He knew he would only upset himself by wishing for something he couldn't have. As the kitsune drifted off to sleep his thoughts were again focused on the way things used to be between he and Sonic.

_**-----Flashback Begins-----**_

"Hey Tails, are you almost finished? We don't have a lot of time left."

The young fox looked out from under the wing of the plane as Sonic spoke to him.

"What are you doing anyway?"

Tails continued his work as he answered Sonic.

"I'm just making a few adjustments to the wings, I need this thing to be as maneuverable as possible today. I'll need to take a look at the new engine as well in a minute."

Sonic gave Tails a puzzled look.

"New Engine?"

Tails reached his arm out and pointed to the rear of the plane, Sonic immediately noticed the large booster attached to the underside of the plane.

"Whoa, Where did that thing come from?"

Tails climbed out from under the planes wing and dusted himself off.

"I fitted it this morning, Its built from what I could salvage from those badniks we ran into yesterday. It'll make this plane go at least 4 times as fast."

Tails bent down to make some adjustments on the new engine, Sonic came over and stood beside him.

"That's really impressive buddy, How did you know how to build it?"

Tails turned to smile at Sonic, He really enjoyed the praise.

"It was nothing really, I just studied the thrusters on those falcon-shaped robots that we've ran into. After that it wasn't too hard to create a bigger version from some scrap."

Sonic sat down in the grass and started to watch Tails work, The kit stopped what he was doing suddenly and turned to face the hedgehog.

"Sonic, I'm worried about this... I don't know if I can do it."

"Hey, Don't worry about it, you're just a little nervous that's all. You'll do fine."

Tails shook his head a little.

"How do you do that Sonic? How do you manage to act so confident all the time?"

"Okay, I'll tell you buddy. When Eggman first came to my island, He took control of everything. No one would stand up to him, It was just me. I thought of all those people who were depending on me, All those lives that I could save. I didn't like having all the responsibility on my shoulders, But it was okay, Because I promised myself that I would stop him. No matter what happened, No matter how long it took, I would never give up."

Sonic placed his hand on Tails shoulder as he continued.

"Tails, If I was staring death in the face I would still fight it with everything I had. Its really important that you never give up, If you keep your heart set on something then you will be able to do it. So I know that as long as you want to do it, then you will be able to."

Tails smiled again and nodded before returning to his work.

"Thanks Sonic... oops"

"What?"

Tails pointed to a small section on the underside of the engine.

"I haven't set this exhaust channeller in correctly. But its okay, It'll only take me around ten minutes or so to fix it."

Tails noticed Sonic standing up and looking behind him, He turned around and spotted it straight away.

"Looks like you're out of time buddy."

"Sonic, Without the booster working its gonna be really difficult to catch up to that thing, Not to mention dodging all of the... Agh, Screw it! I can do it, Lets go."

Sonic was glad to see Tails taking his advice, He jumped in the back seat of the plane whilst Tails climbed in the front and started up the main engine.

_**-----Flashback Ends-----**_

_**Please R+R, Next chapter will be up soon, Its gonna be a long one so please be patient. keep reading :)**_


	4. Unexpected

_**Okay, Next chapters here. This chapter was originally twice as long, but i thought it would make more sense to split it into two separate chapters, (no rants this time, just getting on with the story)**_

**Chapter 4 : Unexpected**

Sonic was enjoying a peaceful sleep when he was awoken suddenly by the sound of his phone ringing, He picked his watch up from the bedside cabinet and read the time through sleepy eyes. He clipped the timepiece around his wrist as he climbed out of bed and walked out into living area of his apartment. He knew who it was that was ringing him, There was only one person who would call him at 8 in the morning. He lifted up the receiver and spoke with a tired voice.

"Hello Amy."

"_Hi Sonic! How did you know it was me?_"

"Well you've woken me up at this time every other morning this week, So its not difficult to figure out it would be you this time."

"_You were still asleep? At this time?_"

"Most people are still asleep at this time, it is Sunday after all."

"_What about the other days?_"

"Amy I'm still tired, can you just tell me why you called?"

"_Uh ok, I was wondering what you were doing later today?_"

Sonic wasn't about to tell Amy he was going to visit Tails later, he knew she would just invite herself along..

"Nothing, I'm staying in all day."

"_Oh great, I'll come over and visit you then._"

"What? Why?"

"_Well If you've nothing else to do I can keep you company, I'll leave right away._"

"Hey hang on! Amy? Hello?"

Sonic placed the phone back down and groaned, He had no intention of being there when Amy showed up.

_**-------------**_

Tails had awoken from his sleep a little earlier then usual, he sat up and glanced at his clock.

_'8:40am? I'll just rest my eyes for another ten minutes or so, then I'll get up.'_

He wrapped the quilt around himself and let out a gentle sigh as he laid his head back down on his pillow.

_'Hmm, This should be a fun day, I wonder what Sonic's gonna have for us to do later? I'd better dig some blankets out of the closet for him, I'll have a shower and some breakfast first.'_

Tails remained in bed for another few minutes before slowly getting up and walking over to his window, He yawned as he watched the rainwater running down the other side of the glass.

_'I hate it this weather, I hope it improves soon. I'm still gonna have to go to the shops later, there's not that much food left although I guess I could leave it until tomorrow.'_

After leaving his room, The fox gave his home a quick tidy up before entering his bathroom and pulling the door closed behind him. After removing a towel from a nearby cabinet he reached over and turned the shower on, he paused for a few moments as he watched the water running from the shower head. After reminding himself that he had plenty of time to get things done, he switched the shower back off started to prepare a bath instead. Tails had always preferred a long bath over a quick shower, he found it to be much more relaxing. He patiently waited for the tub to fill up before turning the taps off and then checking the water temperature with his hand, It was pretty hot but he liked it that way. He laid his towel down on the floor before slowly stepping into the bath, The warm water quickly soaked through his fur as he leaned back into a comfortable position. It had been a while since he had enjoyed something like this, he used to always have so much to do each day that he would have had little enough time for anything more then a shower. Even now that he wasn't finding so much to do each day he was still taking showers, it had become something of a habit to do everything as fast as he could. It was no wonder he could find little to do with his time, he knew exactly who he had to thank for that. He smiled as he realised how much like Sonic he had become, he had always wanted to be just like his hero. The young fox was startled when he heard a knocking at his front door. He groaned in frustration as he wondered who would be at his door this early in the morning.

_'I might as well have taken a shower now, I was enjoying this too.'_

Tails stepped out of the bath and onto the towel that had been laid out on the floor, It caught most of the water dripping from the fox's fur as he collected another towel from the cabinet. He heard the knocking at his door again and knew whoever it was would probably leave if he didn't answer it this time. He rubbed his feet on the towel he was standing on, making sure they were reasonably dry before leaving the room. He continued to dry himself with the towel as he walked down his hallway and opened his front door, he smiled as he saw the face of his visitor.

"Hey, what took you so long? I'm getting soaked out here."

Sonic stepped into the hallway and placed his bag on the floor before closing the door behind him, He had his usual smirk on his face as he looked at Tails and realised the fox was as wet as he was.

"Wow, is it raining in here too?"

Tails laughed as he answered the hedgehog

"I just got out of the bath."

"I bet it was warmer in your bath then it is out there."

Sonic lifted the towel that was hung over the fox's shoulder and started to dry himself with it.

"Erm.. Don't you want me to get you a fresh towel? I've been using that one."

"Nah, this will do."

Sonic finished drying himself off before handing the towel back to Tails.

"So why are you here so early anyway?"

"Early?"

"Yeah, you said you wouldn't be over until tonight."

Sonic started to take the damp sneakers off as he answered.

"Yeah, but I didn't really have anything else to do today. You don't mind do you?"

Tails shook his head

"Of course not. I'll be right back, I just gotta fix up the bathroom."

Sonic nodded and picked his bag up taking it into the living room with him, He placed it down on the coffee table before sitting down on the sofa. After a few moments he turned the tv on with the remote and started flicking through the channels, It wasn't long before Tails came back into the room. The fox placed himself down in the armchair opposite Sonic as the hedgehog turned his attention towards him.

"So hows your hand?"

Tails gave him a puzzled look before he realised what Sonic was talking about..

"Oh, yeah its fine now. It was just a few small cuts, I still shouldn't have done that though."

"Hey don't worry about it, You only said what we were all thinking."

"Maybe. But it doesn't mean anything to her coming from any of us, if you told her then maybe she would finally get the message."

"No, I couldn't do that to her."

"Why not?"

"Because... Ah forget it, It doesn't matter. Anyway what's your plans for today?"

Tails was a little annoyed when Sonic changed the subject but quickly realised it was probably the best thing to do, He didn't want to start an argument with Sonic ten minutes after he stepped in the door.

"Nothing really, I was just gonna lounge around the house and wait for you to arrive."

"Do you really have that little to do? You must get really bored sitting in here all day."

"Yeah sometimes, I've just had enough of doing the same things over and over again every day."

"But you don't have to buddy. Any time you're bored you can just give me a call, whatever I'm doing I'm sure you can join in."

Tails smiled at Sonic, he was mentally kicking himself for all the time he had wasted by himself.

"Thanks Sonic, that really means a lot to me."

For some reason these words made the hedgehog a little embarrassed, He grinned at Tails before again changing the subject.

"So, what's for breakfast?"

"Heh, I knew it wouldn't be long before you asked that, I'll go and see if I can find something to make something for us."

As Tails left the room, there was only one thing bothering him.

_'That's something I've always wondered, and to this day I still have no idea of the answer. Sonic... why can't you tell her? I can understand that he might not want to hurt her feelings but the longer he goes without telling her, the harder its gonna be for her to hear. No, that can't be it, there's got to be another reason.'_

Tails reminded himself that it didn't matter, that it was of little consequence to him how Amy felt. He immediately felt a little guilty, as much as he was starting to dislike Amy she had been there for him several times before. He decided it would be best to just leave things alone for the moment and look on the bright side for a change, and this time at least there was one.

_**And that's it for the time being, but there ain't gonna be a long wait this time, the next chapter is already finished, i just need to go over it a few times then i'll post it. Give me a few days. Read and Review!!!!**_


	5. Speak Of The Devil

_**Okay, So a few days turned into a few months... well nine. Sorry for the long delay but i have been pretty busy, anyway here it is.**_

**Chapter 5 : Speak Of The Devil**

"Well?"

Sonic looked a little confused as he handed the empty plate to Tails.

"Well what?"

"How was it?"

"It was pretty good, not as big as the breakfast you made though."

"I know, but that was all that was left. I'm gonna need to buy more food tomorrow."

"Okay, you can come into town with me on my way home."

Tails nodded before walking into the kitchen to do the washing up, as he went about his business he couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. Today he had spent his time in the same ways as usual, but sharing that time with Sonic made all the difference. He hadn't been this happy in a long time, and knowing that it wasn't going to last forever was becoming a pretty hard thing for him to accept.

_'I really wish Sonic would stay just a little longer, I've really had a lot of fun with him today. Would it be too much to ask for just a little more time together?'_

He decided it would be best not to, he knew that if he spent more time with Sonic then he would want him to stay longer; and then longer still.Tails tried to stop himself from thinking about it and just concentrate on what he was doing instead, he had enjoyed his day so far and didn't want to ruin it now. When he joined Sonic back in the living room the hedgehog passed him the bag he had with him earlier, Tails took the bag as he sat down on the chair.

"What's this?"

"I picked up some movies from the store this morning on my way over, it should keep us from getting bored."

Tails nodded before opening up the bag and starting to look through the contents.

"So? Which one should we watch first?"

_**-------------**_

Sonic removed the disc from the machine and placed it back in its case, after placing it back in the bag with the others he sat back down on the couch.

"That one was pretty good wasn't it?"

Tails shook his head whilst he answered.

"Nah I didn't really like it, I hate horror movies."

"You should have said if you weren't enjoying it, we could have put it off and watched something else."

"I couldn't do that. I had already watched the first ten minutes by then, I'd have been wondering about the ending all night. Anyway the other two movies we watched were pretty good."

Sonic nodded in agreement and then turned his attention to the clock on the wall.

"Its getting late, aren't you tired?"

The fox spoke through a smile as he answered.

"A little bit. I'm gonna head off to bed shortly, I hope the sofa is okay for you."

"Yeah it should be okay."

The fox got up from his seat and left the room before returning with a pillow and a blanket, he handed them to the hedgehog receiving an appreciative smile in return.

Sonic kept his eyes on Tails for a few moments, eventually he asked another question.

"Tails... What's up with you today?"

The fox was a little confused by the question, He sat down on the sofa beside Sonic before speaking.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno... every time I look at you you're smiling, you just seem really happy today. Its a nice change, you did seem to be a little down recently."

"Yeah I guess so, It's just nice to spend time with you again. But you're right, I was feeling a little down for a while. I think I was just getting bored with the same day to day routine, I was finding it really hard to pass the time. I would spend most of the day sitting thinking about things, thinking of how much everything had changed. That got me thinking about my friends, and how much I missed spending time with all of you. "

Tails started to look down at the floor as he continued.

"I missed spending time with you more then anything else, I was starting to get a little scared that we were drifting apart."

Sonic moved closer to Tails and put his arm around his shoulders, Sonic had his usual grin on his face as he spoke again.

"Do you really think I'd let that happen?"

Tails shook his head in response as Sonic continued.

"Now come on, let me see you smile again."

By now Tails was feeling better, he knew it was silly to think Sonic would ever abandon him. He smiled as he continued to stare into the hedgehog's emerald eyes, after a few moments the fox tried to look away but he just couldn't do it. For the whole day Tails had been trying to ignore the stronger feelings he had for Sonic, but just a glimpse of those eyes was enough to bring it all back to the surface.

"Thanks Sonic."

"Any time buddy."

Without even thinking Tails grabbed onto Sonic's hand, The hedgehog had a very puzzled expression on his face as they continued to look at each other. The fox laughed a little before speaking.

"You're really cute when you have that look on your face."

Tails mind snapped back to reality as he realised what he had just said, his heart skipped a beat and he almost started to panic.

"You'd better not let Amy hear you saying that."

Tails let go of Sonic's hand and they both laughed together, afterwards however they both remained silent for a short time. Tails had felt a lot of relief when Sonic took his compliment as a joke and responded to it as such, but as they both remained quiet the fox began to feel more and more awkward. He was thankful when the phone started to ring, he reached over and picked it up from the table.

"Hello?"

_"Hiya Tails,"_

"Amy?"

The name the fox had just spoken immediately got Sonic's attention.

_"Sorry for calling you so late, I was wondering if you had seen Sonic today?"_

"Have I seen Sonic today?"

Tails repeated Amy's question just to make sure Sonic had heard it, in response the hedgehog started shaking his head.

_"Well, have you?"_

"Erm.. No, I haven't heard from him all day."

_"Aw, I was sure he'd be at your house, I've tried everywhere else."_

"Well sorry but he's not here."

_"Okay, well thanks anyway."_

Tails heard a gentle click from the phone, he placed it back on the table before turning to Sonic.

"It seems Amy spent all day looking for you."

A very mishchivis smile crept onto Sonic's face as he replied.

"Too bad she didn't find me then, huh?"

Tails just glared at the hedgehog with a very unimpressed look, Sonic shrugged his shoulders as he continued.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. She's got to give up eventually."

"Sonic, you've been saying that for years. Seriously. you really need to do something about it."

"Yeah, I know... Anyway, what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Well we can get breakfast while we're out, and I'll need to buy a load of groceries."

"Cool, that shouldn't take too long, we can be back here early in the afternoon."

It took Tails a few seconds to catch on to what Sonic had said.

"Yeah sounds good... Hang on, what do you mean _we_?

Sonic grinned as he answered.

"Well you don't expect me to go back home tomorrow do you? Its a cert that Amy would be there waiting on me."

"Heh, well okay then. I think I'll get to bed now, I don't wanna sleep in tommorow."

"Alright buddy, see you in the morning."

Tails nodded and left the room closing the door behind him, he made his way into his bedroom and sat down at his desk in front of the window. As he looked out he could no moon in the sky, no collection of bright stars. It was all obscured by a layer of thick black clouds.

_'hmph, not much chance of a sunny day tommorow I guess.'_

The kit smiled regardless, he was getting to spend another day with Sonic and something as insignificant as the weather was never going to spoil it for him. He stayed at the window for a little while, lost in his thoughts. He spent a few minutes trying to figure out why Sonic had been so touchy whenever they had spoken about Amy recently but the fox still couldn't think of a good reason. Eventully he climbed into bed and closed his eyes, he had had a great day and he was confident tommorow would be even better.

_**Okay, dont worry the next chapter is on its way in about a week. (you probably dont believe me, i dont blame you.) seriously though I'll do my best to up the speed of this fic. many thanks to those who are following this story, especially those who took the time to e-mail me with words of encouragement. cheers!**_


	6. Like Riding A Bike

****

**_Check it out, I updated again._**

**Chapter 6 : Like Riding A Bike**

Tails was awoken from his slumber by a loud clapping noise, he was about to roll over and go back to sleep when he heard Sonic's voice.

"Come on buddy, It's almost seven o'clock."

Tails slowly looked up at the hedgehog through eyes that were still half asleep.

"So what?"

"So get up and go get washed then get your sneakers on, we're leaving shortly."

As Tails went into the bathroom to get showered, Sonic waited impatiently out in the hallway. Tails eventually emerged a few minutes later, Sonic spoke to the fox who was sitting down on the floor to pull on a pair of socks.

"Does it always take you that long to have a shower?"

Tails answered whilst fastening his sneakers.

"What's with all the rushing? The train service from here doesn't even start until eight o'clock."

"Who said anything about taking the train? I thought we could run there instead."

"Run? We'd get there sooner if we just waited until eight and then took the train."

"Yeah but running is good for you, its free and its fun. Besides its been a while since we've done it together."

Tails smiled when he heard this, it made him happy to know that Sonic missed spending time with him as well. He stood up before smiling and speaking in a cheerful voice.

"All right then, lets go."

Sonic nodded before leaving through the front door followed by Tails.

**----------------------------------------**

Sonic allowed himself to laugh as he stopped to allow Tails to catch up for the fifth time since they left the house almost an hour ago.

"Come on then, get a move on!"

A few moments later a rather exhausted fox stumbled up to the spot where the hedgehog was waiting for him.

"Wow, you've really gotten out of shape."

Tails clutched his stomach with one hand as he struggled to get his breath back, eventually he managed to speak a few words.

"I... am not... out of... shape..."

Sonic said two words as he ran off again.

"Prove it."

Tails took a few deep breaths of the cold air before forcing himself to start moving again.

_'Sonic's got a point, I never realised how unfit I was getting. Has it really been that long?_

Ten minutes passed before Sonic stopped again, he turned expecting to see Tails a good distance behind him. He was pretty surprised to see the fox was only a few metres away. Tails tripped and fell face-first into the grass in front of the hedgehog, his lungs felt like they were on fire and it hurt to breathe. He ignored what his body was telling him and rolled over to look up at Sonic, the fox struggled to control his breathing long enough to say a few words.

"I... told you so..."

Sonic smiled down at Tails before answering.

"Yeah, I guess you did. Maybe we could take a break for 5 minutes now."

The thought of resting for a few minutes sounded very appealing to Tails, given his state of exhaustion it would have been the smart thing to do. However the fox saw it as an opportunity, he tried to block out his pain as he forced himself up onto his feet. he swallowed the lump in his throat and almost choked when he spoke.

"Why? Are you getting tired Sonic?"

As soon as the fox finished speaking he ran off, Sonic was pleasantly surprised to see that Tails' determination hadn't suffered as much as his fitness had. He allowed himself to laugh for a few moments before running up alongside his friend, it wasn't much longer before they were both making their way into the outskirts of the city.

**----------------------------------------**

As Sonic looked out of the café's window he could see it had started to rain, he leaned back in his chair as he looked over at Tails who was just finishing off his breakfast.

"Ha, you look as if you're about to fall asleep Tails."

Tails shook his head and grinned.

"Nah, it takes more then a little bit of running to tire me out."

"Good, you'll be ready for the run home then."

"Run home? Erm.. but its raining outside now."

Sonic laughed when he saw the look on Tails face.

"Relax buddy, I'm just kidding. We can take the train."

Tails let out a sigh of relief before taking a drink from the cup of coffee in front of him.

"You know, I'd be lying if I said that wasn't difficult. But that's the most fun I've had in a long time."

Sonic smiled warmly as he nodded in agreement.

"I know what you mean, I run greater distances then that every day but its never as fun as it is when you're with me."

Tails was glad to hear that Sonic enjoyed their time together as much as he did, he returned his friend's smile but stayed silent. Tails couldn't help but notice when Sonic's expression changed suddenly and he cursed under his breath. The fox was about to ask what was wrong but his question was answered before it could leave his mouth.

"Hi Sonic!"

Tails cringed as he heard the voice. All he wanted was to spend some time alone with his best friend, that hope went straight out the window as Amy came in the door. The pink hedgehog pulled a chair over from a nearby table and sat down, It surprised Tails when Sonic greeted her in a pretty happy sounding voice.

"Hey Amy."

"Where have you been Sonic? I was looking everywhere for you yesterday. Never mind, what are you guys doing in town this early?"

Tails was about to say something but Sonic started speaking first.

"Nothing much, we're just going to do some shopping then hang out for a while"

Amy continued smiling as she spoke.

"Well I've got nothing interesting to do today, I'm welcome to tag along aren't I?"

Sonic heard Tails exhale sharply but simply ignored it and gave Amy her answer.

"Of course you can, I'll enjoy myself a lot more if you come with us."

Sonic quickly glanced over at Tails who was looking pretty upset, he broke eye contact with him and turned his attention back towards Amy. He handed her a few coins as he spoke to her.

"Here Amy, will you take this up to the counter and pay for our breakfast whilst I finish my coffee?"

Amy smiled and nodded before accepting the money and walking up towards the counter. she quickly paid for the food before turning to rejoin her friends, who were no where to be seen. Sonic and Tails were both laughing as they walked down a street that was several blocks away from the café, Sonic gently slapped the fox's shoulder as he spoke to him.

"Its nice to know you can still run really fast when you need to buddy."

Tails continued to laugh for a few moments before answering.

"I guess she's gonna be spending all day looking for you again."

"Hey, I'm sorry if I scared you when I invited her to come with us, I couldn't think of any other way to get rid of her."

The fox returned Sonic's grin as he replied.

"Well I can't argue with results."

"Come on, lets get your shopping done and catch a Train before Amy finds us again."

Tails nodded and followed Sonic down the street towards the city centre.

**_A little short, I know. but that was the only sensibl place to end the chapter. good news is I've already got the next one half finished. thanks for all your patience everyone. won't be long til this fic is done im sure. (even though its not even half way finished)_**


	7. Stormclouds

**_Check it out, Another Update! And its not even been a week since the last one, I must be happy._**

****

**Chapter 7 : Stormclouds**

"Tails! We need to get closer!"

His aircraft was tiny in comparison to the huge airship it was pursuing, Tails was pushing the tornado to its limits as he tried to close the distance. Without warning, a beam of crimson light suddenly darted out from the rear of the wing fortress. The young pilot could feel the heat from the beam on his face as it narrowly missed the tornado, he reacted fast and quickly barrel rolled out of the path of a second beam. For several minutes the kit continued to dodge the lasers, every time he got closer he would be forced to pull off more evasive moves.

"Sonic this is hopeless, If I go any faster I might not be able to dodge those beams."

Sonic shouted back at the pilot from the back seat.

"Its now or never! This is our last chance."

Sweat ran down the fox's face as he worked desperately to keep the plane in one piece, Sonic reached forward and placed his hand on the pilot's shoulder.

"I can't do it Sonic, I can't do it..."

"You've got to, it's all up to you Tails! Don't let me down! You can do it!"

Tails clenched his teeth as he pushed the tornado's throttle to the max.

_'No way, I won't let Sonic down. He doesn't give up, neither will I. I won't give up... I won't give up...'_

"I won't give up!"

Sonic smiled as he heard the fox cry out, and was quickly thrown back in his seat as the tornado shot forward through the sky. The hedgehog unbuckled his safety belt and hopped up onto the wing, a few moments later there was almost no distance between the huge fortress and its pursuer. Sonic noticed a section of maintenance platforms on the fortress as they got closer, just as he prepared to jump he was almost blinded by a flash of red light. The beam ripped straight through a large section of the fuselage at the rear of the tornado, The hedgehog jumped with all his strength and landed hard right on the edge of the platform. Realising what had happened, he quickly got to his feet and looked over the edge of the platform. The tornado looked like a meteor as it plummeted towards the ground with smoke and flames pouring out of it.

Sonic swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, he wasn't sure what it was he was feeling but he knew he hated it.

_'Tails...'_

_**-------Flashback Ends-------**_

"Hey, wake up buddy."

Tails slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Sonic.

"Sorry, I guess I was kinda tired."

"It doesn't matter, anyway the next stop is ours."

Tails nodded before looking out the train's window, the sky was covered in thick black clouds and it was now raining heavily. He turned his attention back towards Sonic before speaking.

"I bet you're glad we didn't run home now, we'd have gotten soaked."

Sonic smiled and shook his head.

"We're gonna get soaked anyway, or have you forgotten that your house is about three hundred yards from the station."

Just as the hedgehog finished speaking the train pulled into the station. Sonic and Tails lifted their bags from seats and disembarked from the train, they were both thankful that the station here had a roof to keep the rain at bay. Sonic grinned at Tails and spoke as he ran out into the rain.

"Hurry up Tails!"

The fox nodded and sprinted out of the shelter after his friend, the icy cold rain poured down on them both as they quickly made their way up the hill towards Tails' home. Sonic got there first but had to wait in the rain until Tails arrived and unlocked the door, once inside Tails dropped the shopping bags on the floor and walked into his bathroom. He emerged with two towels and handed one to Sonic, the hedgehog kicked his sneakers off before taking the towel and started to dry himself. Tails carefully pulled off his own sneakers and damp socks and then tried to ignore the cold water as he dragged the towel across his fur, as Sonic finished drying himself he noticed Tails shivering.

"Come on Tails, its not _that_ cold."

"My fur is much thicker than yours, so it soaks up much more of the rainwater than yours does."

Sonic allowed himself to laugh for a bit before approaching Tails with his own towel and wrapping it around the fox's shoulders.

Tails stopped shivering as Sonic started to dry his neck and back with the towel, he then moved on to the fox's arms before doing his Tails one at a time. The fox sighed quietly and smiled, he rarely got to enjoy this kind of attention from Sonic.

_'mmm... I hope this isn't the last time this happens.'_

Sonic crouched in front of Tails as he dried his feet and legs, as he stood back up and placed the towel against Tails' chest he met him eye to eye. The two friends kept eye contact until Sonic finished what he was doing, Tails couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Erm... Thanks."

Sonic returned the fox's smile as he answered.

"Don't say I'm not good to you. Come on, lets put the shopping away."

Tails nodded before lifting the shopping bags and following the hedgehog through the living room and into the kitchen.

**----------------------------------------**

The sound of the howling wind outside briefly distracted Tails from the video game he was playing with Sonic, causing him to make a shameful mistake. Sonic burst out laughing as he watched the result on the screen.

"What the heck Tails? How did you manage to make a silly mistake like that?"

Tails answered Sonic but kept his eyes fixed firmly on the television screen.

"Sorry, I guess I'm a little bit out of practice."

The games second round began and both Fox and Hedgehog continued to speak whilst they played.

"Yeah? That doesn't sound like you, are you sure you're oka-"

Sonic was startled when the phone began to ring, it almost made him drop his wireless controller.

"Play on buddy, I'll get it."

Sonic got up from the sofa and walked over to the ringing telephone situated atop a cabinet in the corner, he glanced back over at Tails as he picked up the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"_You Bastard! I can't believe you did that to me!_"

"Hello Amy."

Amy's name was enough to catch Tails' attention, he turned to look at Sonic with a concerned face.

"_That wasn't funny, why would you play such a cruel joke on me?_"

"Amy, I erm... I..."

"_And what are you doing at Tails' house at this time?_"

Sonic paused for a few seconds before doing his best to imitate a static sound with his mouth, this got a quiet giggle from Tails.

"_Sonic? Hello?_"

The blue hedgehog pressed the button on the phone to end the call before placing it back down on the cabinet, he received a hearty smile from Tails as he sat back down on the sofa.

"What are you smiling for? The call was disconnected, probably something to do with this crazy weather."

Tails smile turned into a laugh for a few moments, then they both turned their attention back to the video game. It wasn't long before the telephone started ringing again, although this time it went unanswered. A few hours later they were both still playing on the game console, Sonic suddenly noticed Tails doing something in the game he had never seen before. He turned to his friend with the surprised face that he was expecting.

"That's insane! How do you get your character to do that."

A smug grin creeped onto the fox's face as he answered.

"Its complicated, and kinda hard to explain."

"Don't give me that! Come on buddy, show me how to do it."

"Alright then."

Tails got up from the armchair and walked over to the sofa where the hedgehog was seated. After sitting down right beside him, the fox placed his hands over Sonic's on the controller. He slowly guided the hedgehog's fingers to press the right combination on the thumbsticks and buttons of the controller, he repeated it a few times just to make sure.

"Think you can remember all of that?"

Sonic nodded once.

"No problem."

Tails removed his hands but kept one of them resting on Sonic's wrist, he watched with interest as Sonic showed that he had indeed memorized it correctly.

"Not bad Sonic, not quite as good as me but still..."

The hedgehog smiled in response, he enjoyed seeing Tails acting cocky for a change.

"Yeah, right. Well we should finish this tomorrow night, its gotten pretty late."

"You're staying tomorrow night as well?"

Sonic nodded as he got to his feet. Tails let go of his wrist when he got up, he wasn't sure Sonic had even noticed.

"As long as you'll let me?"

Tails smiled and answered almost instantly.

"Of course, you're always welcome here."

Sonic walked over and turned the tv and the console off. With no more sound from the tv, Tails could easily hear the rain hammering on the window. He turned and gave Sonic another smile as he made his way out of the room.

"See you in the morning Sonic."

"Sleep tight buddy."

Tails entered the hallway and closed the living room door behind him, he could still hear the strong winds outside as he made his way into his bedroom. Just as he got inside, there was a bright flash of light that was almost immediately followed by a sound so loud that it almost made Tails jump out of his skin. He quickly dived into his bed and pulled the sheets up over his head, another blast of sound and the fox's breathing suddenly got much faster. He hoped that there would be no more, that the storm would start to clear up but the next clap of thunder was even louder. He kept his hands firmly over his ears but it made no difference, it just seemed to get louder and louder. Tails tried to concentrate on something else, tried to ignore something that he already knew he couldn't

_'What's wrong with me? I should have grown out of this long ago, It can't hurt me... It can't hurt me... It can't-'_

Tails thoughts were ripped apart by another loud boom. He tried his best to control his erratic breathing but to no avail, he couldn't even hold his breath for a second. He suddenly started to do something that he had been doing his best to avoid doing. He wasn't sure if it was caused by his fear of the thunder or of the events of the last couple of months, or both. Whatever the reasons for it, he had started to cry. He let out a few quiet whimpers as a couple of tears ran down his face, eventually he just stopped fighting it and allowed the tears to flow. His breathing got faster and shallower as panic started to set in, his lungs completely ignoring his attempts at control. If he hadn't had his hands over his ears, Tails might have heard his door opening in between two more blasts of thunder. He didn't react at first when he felt a new weight enter the bed beside him, but he definitely noticed when an arm was wrapped around his shoulders. He immediately pulled himself close to the hedgehog, wrapping an arm around his back and placing his head on his shoulder. The fox had already stopped crying and slowly started to calm down, he started to breathe slow and deep as the sound of the thunder quickly became something that didn't even matter to him.

**_Well? Enjoying the the story? I'll try not to keep you all waiting for the next chapter, be patient friends._**


	8. Waking Thoughts

_**Hey, Sorry for the long delay (Yet Again) Due to an unfortanate incident with a sandwich I was ill for several weeks.(and still am) Anyway here it is.**_

**Chapter 8 : Waking Thoughts**

The young fox ignored the pain in his arm and continued his work as best he could. After what was basically a crash landing, Tails discovered that the damage to the aircraft wasn't as bad as it seemed. It didn't take him too long to patch up most of the damage and get the tornado back into an operable condition. Now he was frantically working to get his new self-designed engine working, he knew that without it he would have no chance of catching up in time to be of any help to Sonic.

Helping the hedgehog was the only thing Tails could think about, he had spent the past few months doing his best to impress him. Sonic was like no one he had ever encountered before, he had shown the fox kindness and encouragement. But he had also given him something that Tails thought he could never have, A sense of self-worth. Now the kit was determined to prove his worth to Sonic, he just wanted to repay him for everything he had done. The thought of letting Sonic down was the only thing Tails was worried about now, he closed up the engine and climbed back into the cockpit.

_'I've done everything I can, if this doesn't work...'_

Tails started to wish that he and Sonic had made a more detailed plan. There had been no mention of how they were getting off that wing fortress afterwards. Nor had there been any talk about what they would do if they failed to stop it.

_'Even if we were too late, Sonic would still have a way for us to stop the death egg. He wouldn't just give up...'_

Tails started up the engine and carefully guided the tornado up into the sky, he reached out and placed his fingers onto the switch that he had installed to operate the booster with. He had no idea what was happening on board the wing fortress but he knew Sonic needed him, he pushed down on the switch and in response the large metal cloud in the far distance started to get a lot closer.

At that moment on board the wing fortress Sonic had just broken his way into the main control room, there was no one else there and it appeared to have been evacuated in a hurry. After reading a few of the displays the hedgehog learned that an escape shuttle had been readied for launch several minutes earlier, he tried to operate some of the computers to hopefully find where the launch bay was.

_'Ugh, I wish Tails were here, he's better with this kind of thing than I am.'_

Sonic paused for a few moments as he thought about his friend. After a minute or so he reminded himself that he was running out of time and started to read through some of the craft's blueprints, upon learning his new destination he noticed some additional data. It was a timer presumably for the launch of the escape shuttle, with forty seconds remaining on the clock. Sonic turned and bolted out of the room, hoping that he had memorised correctly the way to the launch bay. The hedgehog found it difficult to run fast due to the corridors being cramped and having many turns and intersections where he was forced to slow down. He continued as fast as he could regardless, occasionally kicking himself off a wall and painfully crashing his shoulder into some railings. With seconds to spare he reached the bottom of a long hallway and spotted a sign pointing the way into the launch bay, Sonic used all his strength combined with his high momentum to literally smash through the steel doorway and into the bay. The large launch door was already fully open and led out onto a long runway supported by scaffolding which extended a fair distance away from the door. Sonic ran towards the shuttle that was parked right at the beginning of the runway but was knocked off his feet by the initial blast of its engines as they powered up. The hedgehog jumped back to his feet and sprinted out after it as fast as he could. It was only a few seconds later that he had reached the end of the runway, but the shuttle was already several hundred metres in the distance.

Sonic stood still at the edge of the runway and watched as the shuttle sped off into the distance. He couldn't accept that he was too late, he tried to think of some way in which he could catch up. But for all his speed, and all his determination, he was powerless against the law of gravity. He knew it would only have taken a few extra seconds and cursed at himself for taking so long in the control room, if he hadn't spent time thinking about Tails then he would have been here sooner. He started to wonder if he would have been better off not taking the fox with him.

_'No, I couldn't have left him behind. I doubt I could even have gotten on board this thing by myself... And I would probably have given up a while ago, he's given me something to fight for. I guess we're all screwed now, but is Tails already gone? No doubt the tornado crashed...'_

"Could he have survived?"

Sonic lifted his head as he heard the distinct sound of another aircraft, the tornado shot into view alongside the runway as if it was a heaven-sent answer to Sonic's question. The hedgehog quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and ran over to the edge. The plane's pilot leaned out with a warm smile on his face.

"I told you I wasn't going to give up didn't I?

The only answer Sonic could give was a grin, he glanced up and down the plane and could clearly see the fuselage sections that had been quickly replaced. He was surprised that such extensive damage could be repaired so fast. After he jumped up into the back seat the tornado accelerated away from the wing fortress, Sonic finished strapping himself in and then leaned forward and placed his hand on Tails' shoulder.

"I'm glad you're okay Tails, you had me worried there."

Tails couldn't really think of an answer to give, so he stayed silent as Sonic continued to speak.

"That thing is really fast, do you really think we can catch it in this?"

"Don't worry Sonic, I did more then just repair the plane. Watch this!"

Tails pressed the switch to bring his new booster on line and pushed the throttle up to the max. The engine seemed to go quiet for a few seconds then Sonic was thrown back in his seat as the small aircraft shot through the sky like a thunderbolt. His hope renewed, the hedgehog started to smile even more but then stopped when he realised what it meant. It was just a few minutes until they caught up to the shuttle from the wing fortress, Tails turned to look at Sonic as they approached it.

"Sonic its gaining altitude rapidly, the tornado can't maintain this height. I can only keep up with it for another few minutes, we need to make our move now!"

Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. He undid his seat belt as Tails positioned the tornado directly under the shuttle, the hedgehog noticed a ladder along the underside of the shuttle's hull leading along to a service hatch and knew it would be his way in. Sonic jumped up out of his seat and took a firm hold of one of the metal bars on the shuttles hull, there was barely a metre between both craft so it was within arms length. Tails started to undo his harness but was stopped when his hand was pulled away by Sonic's

"You'd better leave that on, I'm going up here alone."

"What? No! We've made it together this far, I'm not backing off now!"

"Think about it Tails, the death egg is sitting in the upper atmosphere. I promise I'll destroy that thing but there's no going back, It's a one way ticket."

Tears were started to run down the fox's face as he struggled to undo his harness.

"Sonic please! I don't care if there's no going back. So far my life has meant nothing to anyone, at least this way my death might mean something."

"You're life means something to me Tails, and I'm not going to let you through it away!"

Tails cried out as he pushed Sonic's hand away and started to loosen the straps.

"You promised! You promised you would never leave me behind!"

The fox tried to get up from the cockpit but failed when Sonic delivered a strong kick to his stomach. Before Tails could recover from the blow, the hedgehog grabbed one of the iron bars on the shuttles exterior and took one last look at his friend before swinging his legs back and kicking the tornado's control lever.

The small red aircraft dived steeply towards the ground leaving Sonic hanging from the shuttle craft.

_**--Flashback Ends--**_

Tails yawned as he rolled over, he wasn't fully awake but he was well aware of Sonic's absence. He rubbed his eyes and took a few moments to think about the night before. He was really happy when Sonic came to comfort him, but now he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.

_'How did Sonic even know I was upset? Did he hear me crying? No, I think I was keeping pretty quiet compared to the thunder. '_

Tails hoped there would be some other reason for Sonic's reactions, he wasn't proud of his phobia and it embarrassed him to think of Sonic hearing him crying over something as silly as the weather. As the fox thought about it he realised that there may have been other reasons as to why he had been so upset. The thunder was almost certainly part of it, but it was nothing compared to Tails biggest fear. For the past few days he had spent much time with Sonic and was glad that they were still the best of friends, but that was the problem. The fox had been doing his best to shove his stronger feelings for Sonic aside and had decided he would rather have Sonic as a friend than risk losing him completely. It seemed to be working until the events of the previous night, now the fox had finally realised that he couldn't fight off his own feelings for long. He was glad to be friends with Sonic but it was never going to be enough for him, he knew he wanted so much more. Tails started to wonder how an almost perfect friendship could have caused something like this, he didn't understand why friendship had to be the limit. He loved Sonic, so why couldn't he tell him? He wondered how he had come to be in this situation, was it his friendship that had developed into love or was it something else entirely. Tail laughed quietly to himself as he realised the question he was asking himself was almost unanswerable. When exactly does friendship become love? Was there anything else in between? Even before these stronger feelings emerged there was always a difference in the way he and Sonic had treated each other compared to their other friends, so what was this? _Best_ friends? Or something more? Can you be more than friends without being lovers? Tails stopped thinking about it when he realised that he was going in circles.

As the fox climbed out of bed he noticed how bright it was outside, as he pulled the curtains open he used his hand to shield his eyes from the glare. As he left the room he noticed that the front door was open slightly, after walking open and opening the door fully he spotted his friend. Sonic was sitting on a large rock uncomfortably close to the edge of the nearby cliff, Tails left his house and went to join the hedgehog. As he walked over he realised that the weather looked a lot better than it actually was. The grass was damp under his feet and the gentle heat from the sun was constantly interrupted by a cold breeze. Sonic looked up at his friend as he got nearer.

"Awake at last? I thought you were going to sleep all day."

Tails smiled and answered as he sat down beside Sonic.

"What did you expect? We were up pretty late last night."

Sonic nodded and returned the smile, after a few moments Tails started speaking again.

"Thanks Sonic. You know, for last night."

"Don't mention it buddy. Are you feeling better now?"

Tails replied with a nod but stayed quiet.

"I knew you didn't like storms, I couldn't think of anything else to do."

Tails surprised Sonic when he wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly.

"That was the best thing you could have did, thank you."

Sonic returned Tails hug briefly but the fox continued to hold on to him.

"Erm... Tails?"

Tails let go and backed away from Sonic a little.

"Sorry Sonic, I didn't mean to... Sorry"

Sonic looked confused at the fox for a few seconds before speaking.

"Hey its okay, Never mind. Why don't you go get your sneakers on and we'll go for a quick run before breakfast?"

Tails smiled and nodded.

"Great."


End file.
